The Word of God defines faith in (Hebrews 11:1) as the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. In that case, what really serves us as evidence is the promises that God has made all throughout His written Word. In fact, it’s true that we have never seen God, nor have we ever touched Him in a physical manner. However, there is a tangible means that God has used in order to communicate and reveal Himself to us, which is through His Word. That is where we find what we need to know about Him, how He operates, and His will and purpose for our lives.
Most importantly, His eternal Word also determines where we will spend our eternity. The Word of God is the only source through which God has revealed Himself to humankind. Furthermore, the Word of God is an extension of God Himself. In other words, the Word of God is God Himself (John 1:1). As a result, the way we treat the Word of God is exactly the way we treat God Himself. If we cannot agree with the Word; therefore, we cannot agree with Him either.
One thing that is quite notable all throughout scripture is the fact that God really puts a great deal of emphasis not only on the trustworthiness nature of His Word but also on the very promises that are contained within. Because He knows that the only way we can exercise our faith in Him the way He desires us to do so is by having something powerful that can persuade us, or something that is worthy of our complete trust and dependence.
On top of that, He also gives us His Holy Spirit who is the Author of the Word, and who carries out His mighty works through that same Word in order to empower us, so that we can remain faithful to God in no matter what we are going through. We have to believe in His promises in the sense that He is both faithful to them, and is able to bring them to pass into our lives.
As far as faith is concerned, if you can see something, then it is no longer faith. Let us put that in perspective, for example, exercising faith in something that you don’t even see is like a huge obstacle that stands in your way, and one that blocks your view from every direction. However, there is a specific promise that is made to you in the sense that there is something powerful, or a breakthrough behind that obstacle.
But if you believe and remain faithful to the source the promise comes from, one day you will finally experience it just as it is. The truth is that faith always comes with responsibility. As a result, you have to choose to exercise your faith in that particular promise by looking beyond that obstacle with a firm assurance not only what is promised is true but also will surely come to pass if you stick to the promise.
Faith is an essential element in the Christian’s life, our lives start from salvation up to the final stage known as glorification are based solely on our faith in God through Christ Jesus. Our faith is the means through which we connect with God. Our faith in Him is what grants us access to His promises, and it is also what makes us reliable to Him. Our faith in Him is what sustains us through our trials.
The author of Hebrews takes it one-step further by declaring that without faith it’s impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). Our faith is really the key element that transforms us into people that God can trust and count on in order to fulfill His will through us. Lastly, our faith in God is like an anchor that holds us steady in the midst of storms.
Faith Doesn’t Question
Admittedly, as humans, our whole conception is connected directly to the physical world that we live in. We have a natural tendency to question things. Consequently, it always takes us some time before we believe in certain things. Many of the things that we hear compel us to use common sense in order to discern them properly before we can place our belief in them.
So if for some reason something does not make any sense to us; therefore, there is no way we will believe in it, even though it may well be true. Logic, discernment, common sense, along with lucidity are critical if we want to protect ourselves in an evil world filled with all types of deceptions.
However, once we enter the spiritual realm, everything has changed dramatically because God operates in such a way that is completely different from how we think. It’s true that God will never tell us to do anything that He knows we can’t do, nor will He ever entrust us with a responsibility that He knows we can’t handle. But at the same time, it’s always possible for Him to lead us into doing something that does not make any sense at all to us humanly speaking. Exercising faith in God simply means laying aside our human reasoning, understanding, wisdom, doubt, worry, fear, along with anything that can hinder us from fully embracing His promises.
Even in our fellow human, we oftentimes exercise faith. Interestingly, despite the fact that we know they can deceive us miserably. Let’s say for instance that someone finds himself in a very desperate situation, normally such person will have a tendency to try anything promised to him that can get himself out of that terrible situation. However, the value of faith is based on the trustworthiness of its source.
Meaning that our faith in God cannot fail and will never fail because the One in whom our faith is placed never fails. The type of faith that we are exercising in God is not blind faith either because God has already expressed and affirmed His greatness and His reliability through the creation, which is clear evidence that He is fully capable of bringing to pass all His promises.
By the way, we don’t need a preview of where God wants to take us in order for us to believe. To put it another way, we don’t need any visible manifestations. Even if God were to show you a clear picture of where He’d like to take you, He’d never give you the trajectory that you’ll take to get there. So if God makes a promise, even though we don’t see how in the world He is going to fulfill it due to bad circumstances that surround our lives, but we have the responsibility to trust Him no matter what.
For that reason, we can find comfort in knowing that with God nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37). One thing that needs to be understood clearly is the fact that God’s promises are not in vain. So if He promises something He already has a multitude of ways of bringing it to pass. He cannot make us a promise that He has no plan of bringing it to fruition.
Having said that, when God makes a promise, He is responsible for bringing it toward fulfillment. In His love for us, He grants us the awesome privilege to play a key role during that process because He wants to get things done through us for His own glory. This why our involvement in the faith process is very critical.
Obedience Always Follows Faith
Obedience is an indispensable necessity in the Christian’s life. When we are dealing with God, both sides have to take their own responsibilities. God will never do anything that is supposed to be our own responsibility. Practically, anything that we want to achieve in this life requires a level of effort that we have to exert. Meaning that there is a process that we must go through.
We cannot wish anything into existence, so we are responsible for making it happen by taking the necessary actions. God always makes sure that He takes His own responsibility first when trying to get something done. God has already provided anything that we would have ever needed through His Son Jesus Christ.
Since we believe, we are liable to obey what God says through His Word. The only thing that can prove God that we truly believe Him is our willingness to obey Him and trust Him. Our obedience is the very act that will honor His promises. If we are taking a closer look at someone like Abraham that God has promised him He would have made his descendants into a great nation in Genesis chapter 12, and God also told him to leave Haran in order for him to go to the land that He was going to show him. Abraham obeyed the command without even questioning God; thus, the obedience of Abraham plays a major role in everything that we are enjoying as Christians. We’ve seen several wonderful references of Abraham all throughout the New Testament as a result of his faith in God.
Abraham has put his trust more in the power and faithfulness of God. Instead of relying on his own human understanding, which would have eventually hindered him from ever becoming who God wanted him to be. It’s supposed to be the same thing for us as believers. Our lives are supposed to be dominated by God’s greatness, goodness, faithfulness, along with His providence.
Our obedience to God through faith is all about being willing to do what God asks us to do instead of doing what we think is the right thing to do in agreement with our human understanding. But oftentimes as Christians, we do the exact opposite when we are called by God to do something.
Faith Walks Hand In Hand With Patience
Well, It’s not an easy task either to exercise faith in God because it requires a lot of sacrifices. First, we have to be willing to separate ourselves completely from anything that can deflect us from the purpose that God has for us by seeking His face. In fact, we are living in a world that is offering us so many things that we can have now if we are willing to give in to what is necessary to acquire those things. It’s also important to realize that there is no shortcut either when it comes down to how God Himself operates. This means if God will fulfill something in the distant future there is absolutely nothing we can do to shorten the process.
Because He only has the power and perfect knowledge to determine when something is supposed to happen. If it takes time for a promise to be fulfilled in our lives, it is for our own good because there is something powerful that God wants to bring about into our lives. In most cases, God is trying to teach us something meaningful that will empower us in the long run. Therefore, this is where our patience really comes heavily into play.
Oftentimes, many people started to wait upon God at some point during the course of their lives. And when God has not moved when they expected Him to do so, they gave up and started doing things their own ways. Which ultimately led them to more trouble and confusion, and oftentimes they end up losing God’s best.
When we choose to do things our ways we will be swept away by perplexity, fear, anxiety, doubt, uncertainty, as well as panic. The truth is that there is nobody who stops waiting upon God who will not be disappointed with the outcome they get down the road.
Most importantly, God does not give that much importance to when we want something to happen along with the sense of urgency we may experience. The main reason is that God does not operate according to our timing. It’s also true when we pray for something, we tend to want God to answer it as soon as possible. However, what matters is His own divine timing, not ours.
Our faith is the key element that sustains us so that we can wait upon Him patiently during the entire process. When we choose to rely on God in our circumstances, there are costly mistakes we will never make. Sometimes, we even compromise our own self-image, self-worth, and our character because of our impatience while God has something in store that is far better than what we are desperately chasing.
Conclusion
In short, all throughout Scripture God is calling us not to depend on anything other than Himself. Of course, we need certain things to live; however, they are not worthy of our total trust, dependence, and hope because of their eternal insignificance. God has never told us that the Christian life was going to be easy either; however, He has promised us He would be with us in the midst of our trials.
He is willing to make it possible for us to be able to live the kind of victorious, fruitful, and faithful life He desires us to live. Therefore, when we remain faithful to God we will surely get to a point in which we come to the realization that all the sacrifices that we’d made are all worth it after experiencing His goodness. We can never go wrong when we choose to wait upon God faithfully and obediently.
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